Lewiston City Council stalls on homeless housing issue
Oct. 25—More homeless individuals in the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley could be forced to spend their nights outside this winter.
A subcommittee of the Lewiston City Council met four times, but was unable to identify a place to open a low-barrier warming shelter in the coming months, said Councilor Rick Tousley, who led the subcommittee.
Last winter, anyone who was able to follow certain rules, such as not posing a threat to themselves or others, was allowed to sleep at Lewiston's Salvation Army if there was room, at a site operated by the LC Adult Resource Center.
That location isn't available this winter since it's being converted to offices by the Salvation Army. The subcommittee explored a number of other options. One was the possibility of having a warming center in the former gymnasium of what used to be St. Stanislaus Catholic School.
The building is owned by St. Joseph Regional Medical Center in Lewiston, which is next door to the old school, and its administration informed the subcommittee the idea wasn't feasible.
"(The hospital does) a lot of things that they probably require that space for," said Councilor Kathy Schroeder. "It was a really good idea, but it didn't work and it's nobody's fault."
The subcommittee examined loosening rules for warming shelters, such as requirements for bicycle racks, and still couldn't find a place, Tousley said.
Members of Clarkston's city council sat in on some sessions and "weren't willing to participate," he said.
Especially because the temperature is dropping every day, Tousley said the situation stresses him in a way nothing else has since becoming a city councilor.
"I don't know where to go with this," Tousley said.
In other business, the council approved a first reading on an ordinance that amends city rules involving public nuisances after dropping an article that addressed miscellaneous public nuisances over concerns it was too vague.
The ordinance will go through two more readings before the council makes a final decision about how to deal with issues such as inoperable cars, grass and weeds that are more than a foot tall, and vegetation in city rights of way.
The provision that was eliminated had been intended to establish a specific process to address nuisances not named in other parts of the ordinance, such as what to do with structures after fires if their owners don't want to clean up the lots.
A number of citizens didn't like a part of the provision that, in some cases, would have allowed the city's code officer to request a public hearing before the city council to determine if what was happening on a property constituted a nuisance.
Such proceedings, those speaking against it said, could result in citizens being embarrassed or ridiculed without merit.
One of the biggest changes that remains in the version the council will vote on at future meetings removes the possibility of six months in jail as part of a maximum punishment for certain violations by shifting penalties from misdemeanors to civil citations.
Williams may be contacted at ewilliam@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2261.
